Meet the parents
by Tenxtena
Summary: Not only does it never go well, it's NOT ALLOWED to.


The three friends sat in Annette's comfortable bed, an array of discarded clothes and random earrings jumbled among the folds of the comforter, a rich burgundy. All in random, incomplete stages of 'getting ready', they looked worriedly to one another and stayed quiet. Unhappy with staying still anymore, Kristina got up abruptly and walked over to the vanity, trying to calm herself by fiddling with her hair, to no avail. Annette 'hmphed' and threw herself back, landing softly onto Eriol's shoulders, though the Filipina leaned back at the last moment so Annette sorta… crashed. The three of them couldn't believe that through all the crazy situations they had been in, the psycho girls (and guys, for that matter) and flat out dangerous stunts their boys pulled, it was THIS scenario that had them biting their nails and wishing they were just on their way to the restaurant; why was meeting the parents so nerve-wracking??

"He's so effed. Like, no, seriously. They're going to eat him alive. My mother is going to ." Kristina moaned into her hands, resting her elbows on the chest that held an array of makeup. She wore a dark burgundy dress, form fitted and off the shoulders, but still had her sweats on from this morning, her hair pinned up momentarily so Annette could straighten the layer underneath. The latter had her hair in mussed up perfection, the purple in her bangs just visible in the dim lighting. Her makeup was done, but she was walking around in shorts and a shirt that used to belong to her boyfriend, Ryan Feng. Eriol, still on the bed, was calmly leaning against the headrest of the bed, a look of serenity gracing her face. She was freaking out on the inside, but outwardly she was the poster child of contentment.

"Calm down, you're mother isn't a cannibal. I think. He'll be fine, but thank goodness everyone is meeting everyone together. I always imagined my mom would pull one of those detective moves, where she puts him in a dark room and shines a light in his face." Annette replied, pushing her hand to her forehead and closed her eyes, having horrible visions of what might just happen.

"And anyway," she continued, "We need to keep getting ready, we gotta be out of here by eight. Eriol, get up, you're rubbing your hair and its gonna loosen the knot." The latter, another Filipina with long flowing, dark hair, piped a quiet "oh" and leaned forward again, gently touching the hairdo she was sporting. It was intricate, with tiny braids weaved through the knot and down the other half of her hair that was left untouched; her man, Hok, was fond of braids. Kristina wailed again and buried her face in her arms, as she imagine her boyfriend D-Trix sweating bullets under the interrogation of her mother. If only she knew the real deal…

Downstairs, the boys were all sitting on one side of the table, their respective girlfriends parents directly across from them. On the far left sat Hok, both arms on the table, with his fingers twitching nervously as Eriol's father stood behind her seated mother. Mrs. Molon was pleasant, but the male of their house was stealing glances at the Japanese sitting down. On the far right, Dominic had his hands folded in his lap, head staring straight at them; he was desperately trying to avoid the cool daggers being shot by both the elder Aquinos. Then in the center sat Annette's mother, full on glaring and tap-tap-tapping her fingers on the smooth tabletop at poor Feng, who sat ramrod straight and staring with a blank look on his face. He had no idea how to win over this Italian women. NO IDEA.

"So, where you guys going tonight?" Annette's mom asked, her question clearly directed towards Feng but had that subtle 'tell me all your good points RIGHT NOW' tone underneath it. She raised her eyebrows, eyes expectant.

He coughed. Twice. "Well, um, we" referring to the other two males on his side of the table, "We're taking them to dinner… and then Griffith Park Observatory, They're having a party for some of the biggest names in dance, it's a really formal… thing…" He finished. He tried to make it sound better than that, but he got nervous, and therefore, lame.

Mama Hoersting smiled, and Feng felt himself relax a tiny bit. And then it started sucking.

"So there won't be any alcohol, right?"

He blanked. Was he suppose to lie and say no? Of COURSE there was going to be alcohol, it was a formal setting!

Mrs. Aquino spoke up, stealing a glance from her husband who looked agitated and tense, but stayed quiet. "No alcohol. My daughter is not old enough for that."

At this, D-Trix managed to lift his head and piped up "Um… Kristina is 22... That's old enough to drink…" he looked at her mother, saw the stare she was giving him, then dropped his head back down and muttered "I think." She turned her full body towards him and began pounding him with question after question.

"Can you drive?"

"Yes."

"How long have you had your license?"

"About seven years."

"Do you drink?"

"On… occasion."

"Do you get drunk?"

"Never." At that, Hok coughed to hide his laugh and Feng pressed his lips together, but otherwise they stuck to the story.

"Did you go to college?"

"Yeeees..?"

"What does that mean?"

"I'm, um, still working on it."

"How old are you?"

"I'm 26."

"Why are you going out with our daughter? She's so young."

"I love her."

That, of course, was the right answer, and the honest one, but the second he said it, he felt as if that was NOT something her parents wanted hear. Armin became tight lipped once again and her mother pursed her mouth and looked away.

On the other side of table, Hok was trying to smile at his lady's parents, but only her mother was responding. Her father was making quite strange faces, huffing and puffing as he decided to approach the situation. Her mother spoke up softly.

"So, you'll come take her home when you are done?"

Hok smiled, nodded confidently, and responded. "Of course. We'll try not to be out too late… these get together go on awhile, if everyone knows each other."

Mr. Molon spoke up, sounding oddly agitated. "What?! Who else is going to be there?" His thick accent made it slightly difficult for Hok to make out all the words, but answered, "Well… a lot of people. The other members of Quest, the members of many crews, then choreographers, their dates…" He ended lamely. This man didn't really expect him to name EVERYONE, did he?

He did.

So twenty four minutes passed by as Hok named every single individual he thought could possibly be there, and by the end, he needed a glass of water and a hug.

"Really, Mr. Molon, Eriol is going to have a wonderful time. I'm going to take care of her, she won't leave my sight."

Finally happy, the male Ariel retreated into the kitchen, shouting things at Annette's unsuspecting puppy that was comfortable on the couch. Hok flinched back, startled. Well…. That was easy. He looked back to Barbara, who nodded and asked more mild questions, Hok answering them with his charming ease.

Back with our Taiwanese friend, he was going into detail on his college experience, every activity he was involved in, and began to show his girlfriends mother photo's he had taken that were stored in his blackberry, and inwardly sighed as she praised his work. D-Trix was even making process, after gathering the courage to look Kristina's parents in the eyes, chatted them up with tales of how he kept a clean house, cooked frequently, and offered to make them a meal any night they asked; he cooked up a mean pot roast. Hok was laughing easily with both of Eriol's parents, and everything was going pretty smoothly. Too bad the girls upstairs had no idea.

"We are SO LATE!!" Annette shrieked as she glanced at the clock for the first time. Eriol was now in her evening wear, a knee length black cocktail dress with small black jacket on, lavender rhinestones skimming the hem of the dress and the waistband, he hair done, makeup on. Kristina whipped off her sweats and tried to keep her balance as Annette, still not dressed, bent down and buckled the ankle straps on Kristina's heels. Eriol looked amused as Annette got up and booked it to the closet, flinging random tops through the door as she desperately looked for her dress.

"AHAHA! I found you, you horrid thing…" and she walked out, smoothing out the skirt of her kimono style purple and silver dress. She looked around for her shoes when all three girls heard a shattering crash and froze. Eyes wide, they looked at each other in horror as voices floated up from downstairs.

"NO! Ugh, put it in the sink!"

"I can't it hurts!

"Stop being a baby, Kristina doesn't want a baby."

"Oh dear… Annette's going to be upset…"

Kristina's eyes welled up with tears. "I knew it, oh my God, my mother stabbed him. He's dying in your kitchen."

"Hok… are you alright? Ariel didn't mean it. It's not TOO bad…" Barbara's voice was heard, and Eriol gaped down the stairs.

"I'm going to kill him. My father is dead." Eriol muttered.

Finally, Feng could be heard, trying to shout over D-Trix's moans, and Annette's mother piped up.

"Feng, why don't you let me handle it before you confuse yourself."

Annette began to hit her head against the wall. "Why does she say something like that?? Why why why why why…." They rushed down the stairs, the three girls beautifully dressed and scared out of their minds. There they found everyone crowded around Dominic, teary eyed with a pea sized puncture mark on his hand. Mama Hoersting was wrapping his hand in an ace bandage that had, only moment before, had been in Feng's hand. Hok held his cheek, a scratch visible where Mr. Molon, evidently, carried a pair of scissors to cut the bandage a little too close, a little too wildly, near the Japanese's face. Eriol walked over, grabbed a small towel and dabbed Hok's face, who smiled and softly kissed her hand. D-Trix snapped his head up and grinned at Kristina, who blushed at the look he was giving her and walked over.

"Hey… how are you? Does it hurt?"

"Not anymore, bellisima. You're stunning." he whispered, as Kristina slapped his shoulder and blushed harder.

Annette walked over to her mom to ask what happened. The woman was holding her daughter's malamute puppy and looked sheepish.

"Fang bit him. Which is weird, because he likes everyone else…." Annette was exasperated. She always had the most schizophrenic dogs! "Your Feng tried to wrap up his hand, but he looked lost." Annette nodded and walked over to Feng, who was nursing his broken ego.

"So… did you like my mom?"

All three guys looked at their prospective mother-in-laws at that question, and smiled. Annette still thought her man had a creeper smile, but at least it was sincere. I guess…..

After everyone being properly bandaged, the girls grabbed their purses and were heading out the door, kissing their parents goodnight. However, as the girls walked toward the car, all the mother's held back the boys; Annette's mother spoke up.

"We like you boys, a lot. We're very proud of our girls bringing you home. But let me tell you something," she stepped forward, forcing all the Quest members to move back. "Those girls are precious. If you hurt them…. You are in for a world of pain."

" We'd kill you without a second thought."

" No hesitation."

The boys, stunned, stared back at the three women who stared back, coolly, and watched as Hok, Feng, and Dominic became visibly smaller. Kristina poked her head through the doorway and asked "Hey! Can we go?"

Literally turning their heels and walking out, Kristina looked warily at her mother and asked, "What did you say?"

"Nothing."

"Have a good time!"

The women couldn't help but chuckle as they heard the car screeching as it ripped down the street.


End file.
